The trace of disappointment and the flicker of hope in his brownish eyes caused a pleasant hum within Reign’s body.Ah yes, Noah was unsure of how the contract with a demon worked and where exactly they stood since Reign hadn’t managed to ask what he’d intended to ask because Teresa’s call had interrupted them.
“Or we could just go to Dongducheon. I wasn’t making it up when I said there was a festival going on,” he thus told the human, satisfied when the apprehension in Noah’s expression let off a notch.
“We?” Noah echoed back, body and soul calling out to Reign to have them.
Reign stood up and circled around the table, dragging his fingers on the marble top. “Mm, did you think I’d just send you home after breakfast, Noah? Or that I would just fuck someone else tonight?”
Noah’s breath caught, his eyes darkening with want that was a match for Reign’s. It was strange, for a human to stand up to a demon in the way Noah was, not to shy away. Perhaps it was the mutual obsession, the years they had stalked each other, that had rendered Noah immune to the fear and reverence which those who summoned beings from Hell could never truly rid themselves of. And Reign… he liked that even if it was best he shouldn’t.
Leaning in, Reign brushed his fingers against the side of Noah’s jaw. “I didn’t wait for so long just to get a taste of you, Noah,” he whispered, his voice and proximity eliciting those delicious tremors all over Noah. “Until your time is up, it is you I want to devour every night until you pass out from ecstasy.”
Noah shivered, goosebumps appearing all over his neck. When he turned his head and looked at Reign, his eyes were alight with desire so intoxicating Reign had to fight off the urge to bend him over the table and take him right here and now. But he managed, just barely and despite his cock bulging his harem pants, because defiling Noah at the hot springs did strike him as a lot more enticing.
“Go change, Noah,” Reign said as he pulled away and grabbed his cup of coffee. “We might as well do that hike of yours.”
20
Noah nibbled on the straw of his smoothie, staring blankly at the leftmost of the four monitors on his L-shaped desk. He was currently at work, sitting in his private office in the Holy Empire’s embassy after a weekend spent in Reign’s company.
Noah’s attention drifted to the open window. With the heating in the building on full power, he felt no trace of the winter cold, no chilly air biting into the sensitive skin of his cheeks or ears like he had in the mountains yesterday.
Hiking… He and Reign hadn’t done much hiking. They spent most of the weekend fucking like animals in heat in the open baths in the middle of the night, on the bed, in the shower and in Reign’s car. It was as if Noah had been possessed, held captive by the tempest of desire within him that Reign had been stirring up for the past ten years. Maybe this arrangement of theirs was no surprise then with how much Noah wanted the demon… who seemed to want him just as fiercely in turn.
Noah shuddered as the phantom sensation of Reign’s touch surged through him. It still slightly burned whenever Reign pushed inside him, but the discomfort always shifted to a tingling pleasure that intensified witheach of Reign’s thrusts. The stretch alongside it didn’t interfere either, heightening Noah’s arousal instead, enhancing the sensation so much so all Noah could do was moan and squirm and let himself be at Reign’s mercy.
And the craziest thing? It had taken just that first time, that first taste of another man, for Noah to get addicted. His body craved Reign more than before, Reign’s hands yes, but also his proximity, his companionship.Shouldn’t it have been the opposite?Shouldn’t his obsession have died down now that Noah knew what being with another man felt like?
Noah pinned his gaze on the screen again and adjusted himself, his dick half-hard just from thinking about the demon. He chastised himself and then tried to focus on the piece of code he was supposed to be inspecting.He was at work, and with a lot of the day still ahead of him, no less.
Since Teresa attended meetings all morning, he managed to do some work on the monitoring program. It wasn’t much, but it was enough so that the nagging voice in his head that worried about keeping up appearances could call it a day and let his straying thoughts take over again.
This time, he wondered about his dinner with Teresa tonight. Was she going to bring up the husband stuff again? Look at him in that way that made him feel like an object, a trophy that she wanted to add to her collection of young men.He really didn’t want to go.But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find a way out of it; every excuse he could come up with eventually led to a dead end. He knew it was best to attend so he could check the mandatory time with her from his list, but he really didn’t know how he would manage sitting through an entire dinner when his body was already on fire.
Noah worried his bottom lip, shifting in his chair. Did Reign have it this bad? Was he thinking about Noah, imagining the things they could be doing if Noah didn’t have to go into work? Their physical attraction was… undeniable, had been even before Reign had revealed his true identity, but was that enough to keep the demon as obsessed with Noah as he had been before they’d entered the contract? And more importantly, was that what Noah wanted?
The answer was complicated, convoluted by Noah’s lack of understanding about the way the arrangement between them worked exactly. But it seemed like… Noah wanted more than sex from the demon, even if that was probably unwise. This between them was an exchange after all, a trade of Noah’s soul for Reign’s power to grant wishes. The sex was a bonus, really, because demons liked to fuck and Noah wanted to be fucked.
Right?
Noah swallowed, his throat suddenly a little tight. He moved on from the heavy thoughts, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole right now, and instead focused on the other major part of his dealings with Reign: his wish.
Given that Noah had exchanged his soul for it, it had to be of equal worth. Perhaps his permanent freedom from the Holy Empire and a comfortable life so he could dedicate his remaining time to painting? But with the recent developments in his life, that felt not quite right as a trade since hecouldachieve it all on his own. It was in motion already and Noah being in Seoul proved that such a reality was within his reach and rather than just a distant dream. Maybe he couldn’t make it happen immediately like Reign could, but it was certainly achievable in the next few years,depending on how fast he climbed the corporate ladder once he returned to Lisbon.
Noah found himself back at square one, trying to figure out what to ask for. As he tried to pinpoint something, another thought lodged itself in his mind, one that caught him off guard. Would Reign stay once Noah had his wish granted? Would he stick around or move on to someone else, returning only to collect Noah’s soul when payment was due? If it was the latter, then what if Noah never asked for anything? It seemed that unless he voiced it, spoke aloud his true desire, a demon couldn’t grant it. So, if Noah were to withhold his wish, then did it mean Reign would be stuck with him?
Noah’s stomach tried to fold in on itself, twisting with nerves and anticipation as an urge he could only describe as primal speared through him. If Noah did that, then Reign would essentially be trapped, yes, but he would still belong to Noah, as he had for the past decade. Would Reign hate him for tha—
“Noah, dear, what’s with the frown?” Teresa’s sultry voice ripped Noah out of his thoughts, bringing him back to the reality of his first day at the Holy Empire’s embassy in Seoul.
He looked up from the screen and watched as she let herself into his office.Had she even knocked? Or had Noahbeen so lost in his head he’d not noticed?He decided it didn’t matter, his curiosity piqued by the white orchid she held which matched her white pencil dress and headband.
“Just a light headache,” he answered belatedly, fishing out a pack of painkillers from the first drawer of his desk.
“Ah, you did message quite late last night,” she mused, sinking elegantly into the burgundy two-seater couch by the window and watching him gulp down two pills with water. “I can’t imagine you got much sleep. Well, at least it might help with adjusting to the change in time zones.”
“If I can make it until the evening without passing out.”
Teresa laughed as if Noah was the best stand-up comedian in town, the creases around her eyes deepening. “So, how was your trip?” she asked casually.
